Alfred Morris, Lavar Arrington, and Others Say No More to Domestic Violence in PSA

Domestic Violence PSA featuring Alfred Morris and other NFL players to debut tonight during Thursday Night Football.

By Scott Jennings@ScottJenningsHH Oct 23, 2014, 3:45pm EDT

The NFL has received a lot of publicity and criticism for the number of high profile players who have been involved in domestic violence incidents this year. Carolina Panthers DE Greg Hardy was sentenced to 18 months probation for assaulting and threatening his girlfriend. San Francisco 49ers DE Ray McDonald was arrested for allegedly assaulting a pregnant woman a few days after Roger Goodell introduced the NFL's new domestic violence policy. But it took the release of the full video of Ray Rice knocking out his fiance in the elevator of an Atlantic City casino to make the issue impossible to ignore.

The NFL has thousands of players, and ugly incidents like these, along with the 50+ that have happened since Roger Goodell became the commissioner in 2006, make everyone associated with the NFL look bad. More stories have come out about NFL player's wives who feared coming forward due to NFL indifference and not wanting to ruin their husband's career, and former GMs who covered up even more incidents in the past. This is reflective of what goes on in the rest of society as a whole. Significant others don't come forward for a variety of reasons, protecting their spouse, fear of losing their family, fear that no one will believe them, fear of retribution, and a myriad of other reasons.

But there are a lot of very good players in the NFL, who do the right thing on a consistent basis. You might have noticed a series of PSAs that have been airing over the last several weeks during NFL games which speak out against domestic violence and sexual assault. The No More campaign is produced by the Joyful Heart Foundation and you can find more information about their campaign at http://www.nomore.org/. Several NFL players have come forward and become involved with this campaign and have produced a No More PSA that will air during tonight's Thursday Night Football game between the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos. Former Redskins player LaVar Arrington and current Redskins RB Alfred Morris are just two of the nearly two dozen current and former NFL players who are featured in the video.

Ken Meringolo, myself, and the rest of the Hogs Haven staff fully support this cause to bring awareness to the issue, and encourage anyone who has dealt with domestic and sexual violence in the past, or currently, to seek help and to speak out. Say No More.

From the official press release:

Nearly two dozen current and former NFL players - including NY Giants' Eli Manning - are saying "NO MORE" to domestic violence and sexual assault in a new series of video and print Public Service Announcements (PSAs). The players came forward to help shed light on these urgent and often hidden crimes in a new way. Several had personal experiences with the issues, including Troy Vincent, NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations whose mother is a survivor of domestic violence, and Pittsburgh Steelers' William Gay whose mother was killed by an abusive partner.

The new PSAs are the result of an unprecedented collaboration of celebrities, athletes, corporations, foundations and service providers who have donated their resources to bring these hidden issues into the public eye in a way that has never been done before. The creative development, production and airtime involved in this new campaign amount to millions in work hours and advertising dollars.

The new "NFL Players Say NO MORE" PSAs are centered around the first, unifying symbol (like the red AIDS ribbon), and bystander engagement movement for domestic violence and sexual assault, called NO MORE, which is supported by hundreds of national and local groups that are working to end domestic violence and sexual assault in the United States.